I have arrived in Sanya. Fortunately the plane ride was hassle-free. Last time I flew domestic in China it was with Will and Mike. Our plane to Shanghai had been cancelled, so Will had to orchestrate our change to a new flight. I'm not sure my Chinese would have been good enough for that.

I took a bus from the airport to hostel and unloaded my stuff. Eight beds in the room, guys and girls. A locker in the lobby for laptop/camera/passport. About the same quality as American hostels.

Went to the beach. While I can't understand everything being spoken, the tonality of the conversations tells me that people are enjoying this beach just as people at home do. Talking about families, plans, laughing at the children. Happy to not be working. We really are the same people, separated by geography and language some long time ago. But we all wish for the same things in life.

Walked into the city. Passed many expensive looking restaurants and ended up having pulled noodles at a small traditional Chinese restaurant where the meals were 15 kuai ($2.20) instead of 50 kuai ($7.35). I was the only non-Chinese in the place. A man came up and sat down with me. We spoke about who we were, why we were in Sanya, our lives. He is 29 (I guessed correctly and he was impressed). He is in the People's Liberation Army. That evening he was flying home to see his wife, whom he hadn't seen in about a year. My Chinese was as good as his English, so we used both. 

On the bus ride home, a man motioned for me to take a seat. After saying 谢谢您 (xièxie nín | Thank you), he asked me how I knew Chinese. As the only non-Chinese on the bus, many people became curious. The woman next to my new friend asked, “他会说中文吗？” （Tā huì shuō zhōngwén ma? | He can speak Chinese?)

Having these experiences make me think back to all those times when someone in the U.S. would be attempting English in a broken, stuttering way because it was not their first language. I subconciously and unfairly labeled them as a tiny bit less intelligent. How absurd!

I'm so glad I came to China.

Today I'm sitting outside the hostel. I studied for two hours this morning. Now I plan to take a shower and wander!